This invention relates generally to audio enhancement systems, and especially those systems and methods designed to improve the realism of stereo sound reproduction. More particularly, this invention relates to apparatus for broadening the sound image created from amplification of stereo signals through a pair of loudspeakers, without introducing unnatural phase-shift or time-delays within the stereo signals.
Those actively involved in audio or audio-visual industries have continually strived to overcome the imperfections of reproduced sound. Presently, with the onslaught of interactive multimedia computer systems, and other audio-visual advances, the concern over audio quality has heightened. Consequently, there are renewed efforts among the audio industry to develop technological improvements in sound recordings and their reproduction.
Imperfections of reproduced sound can result from, among other things, microphones which ineffectively record sound, and speakers which ineffectively reproduce recorded sound. Attempts at sound image enhancement by those in the relevant industries have resulted in methods which record and encode the positional information of a sound""s origin along with the sound information itself. Such methods include the multi-channel surround systems which operate using specially encoded audio information, and special decoding systems to interpret the information.
Sound enhancement systems which do not require specially recorded sound are typically less complex and much less expensive. Such systems include those which introduce unnatural time-delays or phase-shifts between left and right signal sources. Many of these systems attempt to compensate for the inability of a microphone to mimic the frequency response of a human ear. These systems may also attempt to compensate for the fact that, because of the location of a speaker, the perceived direction of sound emanating from that speaker may be inconsistent with the original location of the sound. Although the foregoing systems attempt to reproduce sound in a more realistic and life-like manner, use of such methods have resulted in mixed results in the competitive audio enhancement field.
Other sound enhancement techniques operate on what are termed sum and difference signals. The sum and difference signals represent the sum of left and right stereo signals, and the difference between left and right stereo signals, respectively.
It is known that boosting the level of difference signal in a pair of stereo left and right signals can widen a perceived sound image projected from a pair of loudspeakers, or other electroacoustic transducers, placed in front of a listener. The widened sound image results from amplification of ambient or reverberant sounds which are present in the difference signal. This ambient sound is readily perceived in a live sound stage at the appropriate level. In a recorded performance, however, the ambient sounds are masked by the direct sounds, and are not perceived at the same level as a live performance.
There have been many attempts to improve ambient sound information from a recorded performance by indiscriminately increasing the difference signal over a broad frequency spectrum. An indiscriminate increase in the difference signal, however, can undesirably affect a person""s sound perception. For example, boosting of the difference signal in the mid-range of audio frequencies can lead to sound perception which is overly sensitive to the position of a listener""s head.
A critically-acclaimed sound enhancement technique which processes the sum and difference signals is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,748,669 and 4,866,774 both issued to Arnold Klayman, the same inventor for the invention disclosed in the present application.
As disclosed in both the ""669 and the ""774 patents, a sound enhancement system provides either dynamic or fixed equalization of the difference signal in selected frequency bands. In such a system, equalization of the difference signal is provided to boost the difference signal components of lower intensity without overemphasizing the stronger difference signal components. The stronger difference signal components are typically found in a mid-range of frequencies of approximately 1 to 4 KHz. These same mid-range of frequencies correspond to those which the human ear has heightened sensitivity. The various embodiments of the systems disclosed in the ""669 and ""774 patents also equalize the relative amplitudes of the sum signal in specific frequency bands to prevent the sum signal from being overwhelmed by the difference signal. Moreover, the level of difference-signal boost provided by the ""669 and ""774 enhancement systems is a function of the sum signal itself.
The specific advantages of selectively boosting the sum and difference signals in light of the human auditory response characteristics, is fully disclosed in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,748,669 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,866,774.
Even with the foregoing audio enhancement techniques, there is a need for an audio enhancement system that can provide high quality stereo image enhancement and which can meet all of the demands of the burgeoning computer multimedia market, and those of the audio and audio-visual markets in general. The stereo enhancement system disclosed herein fulfills this need.
The apparatus and method disclosed herein for creating a wider sound image is an improvement over the related stereo enhancement systems disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,738,669 and 4,866,744, both of which are incorporated by reference as though fully set forth herein. This improved system has already achieved wide critical acclaim. For example, in the November 1994 issue of Multimedia World, one author describes the present invention as something which xe2x80x9clooks like it""s going to be the next big thing on the multimedia PC, and for good reason: It works.xe2x80x9d Moreover, with respect to the same stereo enhancement system, the September 1994 issue of PC Gamer magazine writes: xe2x80x9cOf all the various advances in audio technology over the past couple of years, none is as impressive.xe2x80x9d
The explosion of the computer multimedia market has created a huge class of audio and/or audio-visual systems which are ideally configured for a stereo enhancement system that can broaden a sound field emanating from two speakers. For example, most computer implementations of sound enhancement systems require simplistic circuits which are very inexpensive and which occupy very little space.
Sound generated on multimedia computer systems is typically retrieved as digital information stored on a CD-ROM, or on some other digital storage medium. Unlike analog sound-storage media, digital sound information, and in particular stereo information, is more accurately stored across a broader frequency spectrum. The presence of this information can have a significant impact on methods of stereo enhancement. In addition, amplification or enhancement of such digitally-stored sound may tend to overdrive computer audio amplifiers or computer speakers, which may be relatively xe2x80x9clow-powerxe2x80x9d devices. This concern is particularly relevant in the lower, i.e., bass, frequencies where over-amplification can cause amplifier xe2x80x9cclipping,xe2x80x9d and may severely damage the low-power speakers of computer systems or television sets.
Accordingly, a stereo enhancement system is disclosed which produces a realistic stereo image projected across a larger listening area. The resulting stereo enhancement is particularly effective when applied to a pair of speakers placed in front of a listener. However, the enhancement system disclosed herein may also be used with any of the current surround-sound type systems to help broaden the overall sound image and remove identifiable point sources.
Creating an award-winning stereo sound image which envelopes the listener is accomplished through a surprisingly simplistic circuit structure. In a preferred embodiment, the stereo enhancement system comprises a circuit for generating a set of sum and difference signals from left and right input source signals. The amplitude levels of the generated sum and difference signals may be fixed at a predetermined level or they may be manually adjusted by an operator of the stereo enhancement system. In addition, the left and right input source signals may be actual or synthetically generated stereo signals.
Passive component circuitry is used to spectrally shape, or equalize, the difference signal to enhance the frequency components which are statistically of low-intensity. Equalization of the low-intensity difference signal components occurs without inappropriately boosting the corresponding mid-range frequency components. In sound systems which may be unable to accommodate excessive difference-signal gain among the bass frequencies, a high-pass filter limits the amplification of these frequency components.
Shaping of the difference signal enhances any ambient or reverberant sound effects which may be present in the difference signal but masked by more intense direct-field sounds. The equalized difference signal is recombined with the sum signal and the left and right input signals, respectively, to generate enhanced left and right output signals.
The enhancement system disclosed herein may be readily implemented by a digital signal processor, with discrete circuit components, or as a hybrid circuit structure. Because of its unique circuit structure and accommodation of low-power audio devices, the enhancement system is particularly desirable in audio systems which are inexpensive, those which operate with relatively low-power output signals, and those which have limited space for incorporating an enhancement system.